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A supplement to Gold Country Media in partnership with Placer County Water Agency SUPPLEMENT TO GOLD COUNTRY MEDIA | Summer 2020 | FIRE AND WATER | 1 FIRE AND WATER TABLE OF CONTENTS A supplement to Gold Country Media in partnership with Placer County Water Agency 04 Gold Country Media Associate Publisher: 06 Bill Sullivan, 916-351-3750, [email protected] 10 Multi media director: 14 John Love, 916-774-7939, 1030 High Street, Auburn, [email protected] CA 95603 18 530-885-5656, Advertising sales: thepresstribune.com, 20 Debbrah Campbell, Penny Martinez auburnjournal.com, Beth O’Brien, Gayle Scott theloomisnews.com, 22 Shoni Jones, Julie Robledo theplacerherald.com, Susie Reid, Josh Pacheco lincolnnewsmessenger.com 24 Gold Country Media Copyright 2020. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced 26 Graphic Designer: without written permission of the publisher. Barbara Benavidez, 530-852-0291, The publisher shall not be responsible for any liabilities arising from the publication of 30 [email protected] copy provided by any advertiser. Further, it Shaden Solanji, 537-852-0237, shall not be liable for any act of omission on the part of the advertiser pertaining to 33 [email protected] their published advertisement. Is your home overdue for a cosmetic procedure? If a propane tank is blocking the view of your home or property, let us help you make it vanish. An underground propane tank from Kamps Propane is the ideal way to beautify your home AND increase your safety from wild- fires or accidents. One easy decision, two great benefits! Call (916) 408-8703 to get a free site survey and installation quote! Propane Delivery — Tank Installation — SMART System Monitors 1545 Nichols Dr Family-owned and operated since 1969. Rocklin CA 95765 (916) 408-8703 www.KampsPropane.com CSLB #569847 2 FIRE AND WATER | Summer 2020 | SUPPLEMENT TO GOLD COUNTRY MEDIA Is this fire hazard out YOUR back window? Call Overgrown Fire Hazard to clear it! Bushwackers Project BEFORE AFTER BOTH PHOTOS/AUBURN FIRE DEPARTMENT • COURTESY TO THE JOURNAL The concentration of flammable material in the fuel With the trees trimmed up and the brush cut break before it was cleared six years ago would back the area looks like a park and allows burn too hot to go near and even if a firefighter firefighters to set up an offensive front could get near the blaze it wouldn’t make a against a fire. difference, Fire Chief Mark D’Ambrogi said. FREE ESTIMATES! • Tree Service • Brush Clearing • Weed Abatement Contact Us For • Blackberry & Poison Oak Your FREE Guidebook: • Fire Breaks What It Takes For A Fire Safe & Fabulous Looking Home site NEW 250HP Stump Grinder Insured CSL #866502 Owner, Scott Serenbetz (530) 888-7776 • Cell (916) 955-7776 www.thebushwackers.com SUPPLEMENT TO GOLD COUNTRY MEDIA | Summer 2020 | FIRE AND WATER | 3 PCWA GENERAL MANAGER t is my pleasure to introduce the 2020 edition of Fire & One such solution is our French Meadows Forest Restoration Water. This is an annual publication produced by Placer Project, which is a first-of-its-kind, public-private partnership to ICounty Water Agency (PCWA) in partnership with Gold protect a critical watershed through active forest management. Country Media to highlight the many challenges and opportuni- The project is highlighted in this magazine on pages 26-28 ties associated with natural resources stewardship in the region. (Prescribed Fire in the Tahoe National Forest). This year, we have invited our colleagues from other local This year’s magazine also includes tips from a number of agencies and citizen groups to contribute to the conversation your local utilities to prepare for the upcoming fire season. about how our region is dealing with two of the most important This includes establishing defensible space around your issues facing Placer and Nevada counties. property and using water efficiently. 2020 has been another For PCWA, the nexus between fire and water is clear. Six- dry year; and, while we are fortunate that previous generations ty-five percent of California’s water supply comes from the of Placer residents invested in the infrastructure necessary to forested watersheds that make up the Sierra Nevada Mountains provide a reliable water supply, stretching every drop of water and nothing causes more degradation to water supply and water inside and outside your home and business helps all of us quality than a mega forest fire. guarantee that we have water for future dry years. Nearly six years ago, the King Fire ravaged the American My hope is this edition of Fire & Water will provide a deep- River watershed which is one of PCWA’s primary water sources. er appreciation of what is required to ensure the reliability, We are still dealing with the effects of that fire today. From de- affordability and sustainability of our water resources and our stroyed watershed ecosystems to landslides and sediment in our ecosystem. We are grateful for the participation of our local water supplies, our customers, our citizens and visitors to our contributors and sponsors to provide this magazine to you, area all suffer the consequences. It has focused PCWA on solu- and we hope you find the contents useful for your farm, home tions that reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire and mitigate or business. the effects of all fires that occur in our watersheds. Specializing in High Risk Thank you to all of Trimming & Removal the Firefighters and 25 years of experience ✓ Tree Removal ✓ Brush Cutting First Responders ✓ Stump Grinding ✓ Line Clearance ✓ Palm Trimming ✓ Lot Clearing • Retail Sales • Rooftop Deliveries & Skimming ✓ Hazardous Limbs • New Roofs Call us today for your free estimate! • Re-Roofs • Repairs Show this ad and receive 10% off • Composition, Tile & Metal Family owned since 2017 • Tile Bone Yard your next project c. Roof ng & Supply, In FREE RESIDENTIAL & COMMERCIAL • INSURED • FREE ESTIMATES RESIDENTIAL ESTIMATES 144 Team Track Road • Auburn Insured Bonded • License #697425 (916) 547-4643 roseroofingandsupply.com 530-823-3812 Serving Placer and Nevada Counties randbqualitytreecare.com License #1025287 SUPPLEMENT TO GOLD COUNTRY MEDIA | Summer 2020 | FIRE AND WATER | 5 PLACER RESOURCE CONSERVATION DISTRICT Auburn shaded fuel break ignificant progress has been made on the Auburn and transitioning from a uniform prescription with contiguous Shaded Fuel Break (ASFB), which is located on lands boundaries, to a ‘landscape-style’ prescription, which allows Sowned by the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) for scalability in determining adequate width and degree of in the wildland-urban-interface (WUI) between the City of Au- fuel reduction necessary to account for site-specific features burn and Reclamation lands in the Auburn State Recreation that exist on the landscape such as variations in fuel types, Area (ASRA). fuel densities, slope, topography, ignition sources, prevailing In September 2019, Reclamation completed an update winds, residential density, etc., while incorporating natural to the nearly twenty-year-old ASFB prescription, which was breaks and/or non-burnable landscape features into the proj- originally developed in 2002 in collaboration with the Califor- ect area. nia Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire), the Simultaneously, substantial progress has been made on California Department of Parks and Recreation (State Parks), constructing the ASFB thanks to a $1.9 million fuel reduction and Reclamation. The 2002 prescription defined a 250-acre, grant awarded to Placer RCD through California’s Climate 5.5-mile long, contiguous 300-foot-wide linear shaded fuel Investment Program (CCI). Using private contractors and work- break atop the North Fork American River Canyon along ing under the oversight of Auburn Fire through an existing the eastern city limits of Auburn, CA between South Auburn agreement between Auburn Fire and Reclamation, Placer RCD and the Foresthill Bridge. This prescription had served as has completed 120 acres of fuels treatment within the ASFB the guiding document for construction and maintenance of with an additional 150 acres planned for construction this the ASFB; however, increases in fire behavior, intensity and summer/fall. In addition to project oversight, Auburn Fire frequency throughout the west over the last decade prompted has assisted the contractors with services including providing Reclamation to re-evaluate the prescription to reflect current an engine crew and other key efforts to monitor and direct fire conditions. construction activities. The 2019 update was developed by Reclamation with input An additional 15 acres of the ASFB was completed earlier and consultation from Cal Fire, State Parks, the City of Au- this year by the California Conservation Corps (CCC) in very burn Fire Department (Auburn Fire), and the Placer County steep terrain between State Parks’ ASRA Headquarters and the Resource Conservation District (Placer RCD), which include Auburn neighborhoods of Olive Orchard and Aeolia Heights. increasing the maximum width of the ASFB from 300 feet to The CCC has been constructing portions of the ASFB since 600 feet; extending the northern end of the ASFB by 2 miles 2012 under a Cooperative Agreement with Reclamation’s Cen- from the Foresthill Bridge to the Cal Fire station in Bowman; tral California Area Office in Folsom, CA. 6 FIRE AND WATER | Summer 2020 | SUPPLEMENT TO GOLD COUNTRY MEDIA PLACER RESOURCE CONSERVATION DISTRICT μ Modified ASFB (421 Acres) Current ASFB 250 Acres) 0